TOMORROW’S KIDS

Each day our children walk out the front door of our homes into harms way. They go to school! There they are subject to face challenges by others that have never been taught the moral and ethical conduct to live within a civilized society. We know the results!

Today, more than one in three of our children, live with a single parent and almost always with the mother.

The remaining children are fortunate to live with both parents; however 75% of both parents, for economic reasons, are forced to seek employment outside the home!

This leaves a large portion of our children neglected, alone, scared, unloved and unsupervised!

What role can and should our churches, our synagogues and our mosques play in the growth and development of our children in our present day society? Should day care be part of their responsibility within their communities and will it be compatible with their intended purposes?

FROM BIRTH UNTIL AGE FIVE, THE FORMATIVE YEARS, WE KNOW THAT EVERY CHILD MUST DEVELOP DURING THESE ESSENTIAL YEARS, THE BASIC SKILLS AND CHARACTERISTICS TO SUSTAIN THEM FOR THE REMAINDER OF THEIR LIVES!

The neglect for our children’s care during theses critical years is a national disgrace! We must recognize that this is one of the main reasons that our children are killing and maiming each other with their outrage and violence. They have NOT been taught the difference between right and wrong!

We must ask ourselves. Whose responsibility is it? What segment of our society is better equipped to properly take care of our children? Are we making mountains out of molehills; or has the violence expressed by our children really reached a critical state?

Our government is proposing that we spend billions upon billions of dollars to build and maintain day care centers throughout our country.

Our churches, synagogues and our mosques have the buildings, the facilities and the resources for outstanding day care centers already in place! The proper utilization of these institutions would provide excellent and instant day care right now for the least possible cost.

Tomorrow’s Kids is of the opinion that these institutions are the only ones capable of handling this crisis! If that be true, we the citizens and members of these institutions must ask ourselves some serious questions:

Would you be willing for your religious faith to join a nationwide effort to provide an excellent day care program for our children?

As a taxpayer would you be willing for a small portion of your tax dollar to go to subsidize needy mothers and provide equitable compensation to these institution, primarily through a voucher system?

Would your religious leaders be willing to meet with our legislators and work out a common sense approach to this crisis?

Would your leaders be willing to participate into a joint venture with our government to save our children?

Would you be willing to help in the revision to the Regulations Governing Licensing the Facilities of Child Care in your particular state for uniformity and fairness to all parties?

Do you feel that a secular (worldly rather than spiritually), state run institution can do the job? Does past experiences lead you to believe that the state would be merely inviting another failure of governmental social engineering?

Do you prefer that the formative years of a child’s life be guided and exemplified by the moral and ethical tenets of our religious faiths?

We must rethink the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. Take another look at the first line of the first amendment and reread these plain and simple words. Then substitute "an atmosphere of cooperation" to the bogus "wall of separation" between the separation of church and state!

The people of Tomorrow’s Kids feel that there is no greater issue facing this nation today. The only way to literally save tomorrow’s kids is to make them the number one issue in the upcoming presidential debates and the election. The only way to do this is to create a grass-roots movement, a bubbling up of the people, with a voice so strong it simply cannot be silenced!

At Tomorrow’s Kids we must realize the actuality of the dangers we face as a society. Recent diverse and drastic changes within our cultures have led us to neglect our most valuable asset - - - our children. We must re-trace a wrong road taken!

Tomorrow’s Kids stands ready to coordinate the efforts of this vital common cause. Please let us hear from you!

TOMORROW’S KIDS was inspired by the following short story. A simple poignant story of love! A moment of beauty so powerful it could change an entire nation if we will just heed the message.

THE PRINCESS

My wife is a patient in the Neshoba County Nursing Home. Naoma is an Alzheimer patient and this insidious disease has taken her beyond speech, mobility and reasoning. She is slowly slipping into oblivion, both mentally and physically. Ultimately, she will regress into a fetal position and starve to death unless some illness like pneumonia opens the door for the grim reaper. These are the cold hard facts of life. In the meanwhile she must be cared for.

One of the caretakers assigned to tend to Naoma’s almost constant needs is a single young black mother of two. She is a beautiful young lady; somewhat regal and reminds me of a tribal princess as portrayed in the old classical movie, King Solomon’s Mine.

Over the months I have learned that the princess once had a third child, a beautiful eight year old son. In order to work she must leave her children in the care of her aging mother during the day. Her former husband and father of her children, has long since taken up with another woman, leaving the princess and her children to fend for themselves.

One day the young boy darted across the road in front of his grandmother’s home and was struck by a speeding automobile. He died almost instantly!

Her constant worry is quality day care for her two remaining children. Her aging mother is ill equipped to continue this awesome burden but they do not have any other choice. She lives from one day to the next with this dangling question of fear over her head, what will I do if my aging mother dies or is disabled?

On several occasions as I start to enter Naoma’s room, the princess will be sitting beside her bed. She will be humming or singing a tune, usually an old time gospel, reassuring my wife that everything is right with the world. Naoma will respond, lovingly touching the princess on the cheek, all the while smiling with her beautiful deep blue eyes and replying "Ya, ya, ya!" It is a touch of love and a thing of beauty – too sacred to interrupt. I dare not intrude!

This beautiful, kind and loving princess along with thousands in similar situations must have help! She remains our inspiration.

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The first response to TOMORROW’S KIDS came from a lady living in Massachusetts within the shadows of the hallowed halls of Harvard. It is as follows:

I think trying to offer a solution to the day care problem is one of the best things you could possibly do. I work with many people for whom it is an issue, but I also have a few clients who provide day care in the cities of this state and it is a constant struggle. They can’t even begin to provide enough space for the need!

I agree that the government has failed to provide many of the services, protection, and education that people and society need, but I think the issue is also that individuals have abdicated their individual responsibility. Somewhere along the way people seem to have decided that their obligation to others was merely limited to their payment of taxes or to the meager donations to the church or temple of their choice.

Prior to the existence of any national welfare system, people in families and communities pulled together to take care of and educate children, people out of work, and elderly who could not take care of themselves. Yes, many people could not get all the help they needed which led to the establishment of federal programs to assist THOSE WHO NEEDED IT!

Unfortunately, over the years, the implementation and availability of these programs came to be the right of everyone. The fact that these federal programs exist, most individuals seem to feel they no longer have any individual responsibility; that is what the federal government is supposed to do! As a result, they send their children to school and church with the expectation that these institutions have the responsibility for their education, protection and teaching them the difference between right and wrong. Then they will not allow discipline and often send an opposing message by the actions they take.

When did we decide, as a society, that no one has any responsibility for what happens to him/her? Whenever someone is injured, almost immediately a suit is filed against the property owner or the manufacturer of the item being used at the time. No one seems to be held responsible for tripping over his/her own feet! Which is your point about the government response to why things aren’t working – everyone is pointing fingers elsewhere instead of just attacking the problems.

Getting closer to the basics is the direction we need to go. Good luck!

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I have spent over a year of my time and a goodly portion of my income promoting Tomorrow’s Kids. Nobody cared enough to help with the exception of my son Barry, his wife Becky, my son Jeff, my grandson Jason and my niece Joyce who wrote the first response. My biggest disappointment was in the lack of response from the clergy, in the mainline Protestant churches of the entire country. I have talked to hundreds of pastors and I could only get a positive reply of one in ten. The laity usually responded positively about nine out of ten. Has professionalism permeated our faith?

It is difficult to understand the answer to the public apathy combined with the public ignorance that is prevalent throughout our nation. May God help us!